Council Bluffs Man Sentenced on Firearm Charge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 27, 2014

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - On January 24, 2014, Michael Phillip Castor, age 40 of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced by Senior Judge Robert W. Pratt, in United States District Court in Council Bluffs on a charge of felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Senior United States District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt sentenced Castor to 110 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Castor was also ordered to forfeit the firearm and ammunition he possessed, and to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Castor remained in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

In sentencing Castor, Judge Pratt found that Castor was subject to the enhanced sentencing provisions of the Armed Career Criminal Act, which increases the sentence of a convicted felon in possession of a firearm based on prior serious drug felony or felony violent crime convictions. Castor was found to have three prior violent crime convictions in Nebraska, including burglary, robbery, and the use of a firearm to commit a felony.

The charge arose from a Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department investigation into a stolen motorcycle. During the search of a residence associated with Castor, officers found a loaded 9mm pistol. Officers had previously found on Castor’s person four rounds of ammunition which matched the make and caliber of the ammunition in the loaded pistol.

The case was investigation by the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.